Things We Love Lately . . . .

I love waking up to get my boy to school. I get to see this every morning.


The sun rising up over the hills.


We loved taking the boys to the fair.


They ate huge cinnamon and sugar "tiger ears" and had messy faces while they looked at animals and admired prize winning pumpkins.


I love "The Help".


I know I am probably the last person on the earth to read it, but still . . . I love it.


I love love loved taking pictures of my new nephew.

I got two whole hours to look into those little eyes and feel those soft little cheeks. He is a sweetheart.


I love my latest decorating adventure.
I stenciled my wall.


I've been wanting to do it FOREVER. I finally got the courage.
Took me two days.
Two days of pure torture.
Not joking.



I am loving PINTEREST.


Again, I am sure I am the last person on earth to finally join, but WOW.
I love all the amazing new ideas on there.

What are you loving lately???

It's the first of September . . . . .

Thanks everyone for your comments and emails and kind words about my "Being Real" post.

I honestly honestly posted it for the release of all my pent up frustrations, but I gained something truly special from it.
I learned that even though life's struggles can be lonely at times, there are people who understand or WANT to understand. Thank you. Love you all.

And, just so ya know, my husband and I are not the only ones that have to adjust to the autism life (as I call it).
Andy deals with a lot himself.
In a day we do about 9 trips in the car to and from school, therapy, and doctor's appointments.
This poor thing barely gets a nap some days.


Even though he is in the terrible twos, thinks he knows everything about everything, is stubborn as can be, . . . . he is a trooper. When I have to wake him up from his nap, before he even opens his eyes, he says "Go get Buddy?" (that's what he calls Christopher). He gets up and he gets his shoes on and he gets in that car even if it is the 9th time he has done it that day. We love him.

I am trying, now that Christopher is in school, to give back some of that one on one attention that Andy has missed in the chaos of this difficult year.
Today is September 1st.
To me, that means fall!!
And, what a fabulous "fall" day it was.
The temperature only got to 74 today and there was a light breeze and dark clouds. It felt great!
So, Andy and I celebrated by making some cinnamon rolls.



He had a blast putting flour in the mixer.


I tried not to show that I was anxious about the flour pouring onto my counters and floor :)



We had a great time together and we are happy to be spending some Mommy-Andy time.

Are you excited for fall to arrive?

Glad That You're Sad . . . . . .

Conversation with Christopher on the way home from school :

Me: How was school?

Chris: Good. Did Andy miss me?

Me: Ya. He did.

Chris: Did he miss me a lot?

Me: Yep.

Chris: What did he say? Did he say that he missed me?

Me: Yep. He asked where you were. I told him you were at school and that you would be home soon.

Chris: Did he say that he missed me and that he wanted to go to school too?

Me: Ummmm. Yep. Sure. He said that too :)

Chris: Did he cry? Did he cry all day?

Me: Ummmm. Yep. He cried. He cried allll day (really he did. terrible twos going on in our house!). He was so so sad.

Chris: Good.

Best Buds :)

Being Real . . . .

I try to keep my posts light hearted and happy.
I try to let people know that I am blessed and grateful.
But, sometimes I am frustrated and defeated.
It happens to us all.
You have no idea how many posts I write and then never publish because I don't want to seem depressing.
Well, this one might slip through today because sometimes -
I like being REAL.
I like people to know that my house, my kids, my life is not perfect.
Don't we all want to know that about each other??

This was the last day of school this week.
Christopher did great.
When I went to pick him up today the teacher stopped me and said, "He had some trouble with using scissors today. He could barely hold them. We had to stop and help him. Have you taught him to use scissors?"
I just stared for a minute. "Well, yes I have. He struggles with that."
She says, "Well, that's something you really should be working on with him at home."
I smiled and said I would.
Inside I was screaming.
Cutting with scissors!! CUTTING with scissors!!

You want to know what we have been WORKING on at home to get him ready for school!

I've been teaching him:
How to not be afraid of the toilet flushing.
How to not be afraid of USING the bathroom.
How to put pants on.
How to HOLD a pencil, let alone write with it.
How to control his emotions when overwhelmed.
How to PLAY with other children.
How to open a car door.
How to say his name correctly.
How to go down a slide.
How to recognize another person's facial expression and what it means.
ETC. ETC. ETC.

I don't blame the teacher. I try to help her understand. I wrote her a letter explaining his issues and I talk to her before and after school. But, it's never enough. I don't blame her at all. She is a nice woman. I don't hate her for saying that. I hate the loneliness that comes along with what she and others say. The feeling that I can never explain how much this boy is going through and that I can't just CHANGE how his brain works. I can't MAKE his brain tell his hand when to put pressure on the scissors to make them work. I am overwhelmed with the things I need to teach him. Not only to be a good person, but how to function as a human being.

While I do try to keep my blog happy and light hearted, there are things that need to be said sometimes. Though I did not choose for my son to have this disorder I can choose how I make his voice and others heard. I feel like it is an obligation that comes along with the autism. This father made an amazing video for his daughter. I really love it. Click here to watch. He helps me feel a little more willing and brave to share my own thoughts on how autism is affecting me.

Please don't think I am a grumpy, bitter person :)
I love my family and my life.
I am blessed beyond words.
But, sometimes I just need to be REAL.

First Day . . . .

This could be categorized as another one of our "Look How Far We've Come!" posts.

A year ago (heck, 6 months ago!) I was thinking public school may not be an option for our little guy.

We have come so far!!

Today was the first day of kindergarten.

He was ready and brave.

He found his seat,

was VERY excited about having his own eraser :), asked Daddy and Mommy if they were staying (we said no), he waved good-bye and that was that.

I picked him up at school and his teacher said, "He did really well. His questions were appropriate, he was on task, and he is soooo cute."

That's my boy.
That's my amazing boy.
I know there will be hard days to come, but he is going to DO it!
We are so so proud.

The new guy . . . .

Guess what??

I am FINALLY an aunt on my side of the family!
Congratulations to my brother and his wife and their new little guy.

He is the cutest little bundle you have ever seen.

I told my sister in law, after cuddling him for awhile, I could take him home if she wanted some rest ;)
She declined.
She's pretty attached to the little guy ;)
She is going to be a fabulous mommy.

It is also so fun to see my brother as a daddy :)

Welcome to the family Ryker!!

Robot Room . . . . .

The boys have finally joined forces!

They share a room now and they are LOVIN it.

Wanna see??

Ta-da!


I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out considering I tried my hardest to do it cheaply.

My mom and I painted the chevron stripe wall.
It seriously took us a million years to figure this out!!
We were so deliriously tired and confused we just laughed the whole way through.
Starting over and over again with our tape.
Oh man. We are special, Mom :)
So, don't ask me how to paint a chevron wall. I have nooooo idea. Ha ha.

My sweet, wonderful, amazing friend Misti cut these spectacular vinyl robots for their room.

Check out her website. She is THE best! Thank you dear Misti!!
They are every boys dream.
Thank you Mom and sister Jamie for helping me apply them.
Again, we laughed the whole way through struggling to apply them.

They got the red bunk bed my siblings and I had as kids.


Good memories. Hope my boys have the same.

I made some cheap art.

Maybe a little too cheap looking?? Ha ha.

Oh well, the kids like it.

I repurposed some old pillows I had with some funky fabric.
I also painted an old lamp I found a bright red and added red ribbon to the lamp shade to try and modernize it.


I love it. 6 bucks.

I love having my boys in the same room and hope they will develop that bond that can only be done in close quarters.
Let the fighting begin!!